(KWMN)- Sectional Tournaments are slowly inching towards the championship games with the State Tournaments quickly approaching afterwards.
For area teams, most have seen their season cut shorter than the ultimate goal of reaching the state tournament. Two remained coming into the week, but Rushford-Peterson bowed out, leaving one lone area team in competition-The Winona Senior High School boys’ basketball team.
Rushford-Peterson Boys
The Rushford-Peterson boys team saw a tough draw in the section tournament, having to face the top seeded Goodhue Wildcats in the second round. On Monday night they faced off with the Wildcats from the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.
It was a classic David vs. Goliath-with David throwing the first punch. In Rushford’s slow, methodical approach they were able to lead at the half, 26-25. The Trojans shot out of the gate with some haste in the second half, growing their lead to seven. Goodhue never wavered, and they stayed confident throughout. Coming into the final ten minutes of the game it was still neck and neck, with the Trojans and Wildcats trading leads back and forth.
Goodhue put together a brief run to tie the game at 42. That’s where the tides changed, and with the momentum Goodhue found, they continued their run and took a lead, 50-42. During their run, the Trojans went cold, still putting together solid defensive possessions but couldn’t couple them with production on offense.
The Trojans never found their way back from the deficit, and lost the top seeded Wildcats, 60-50. Dawson Bunke led the way for the Trojans with 24 points and Grady Hengel added 14. Will Opsahl of Goodhue, a Mankato State commit, led all scorers with 28.
Head Coach for the Trojans, Chris Drinkall, said of the game,
” I thought we played well. I thought defensively we executed the gameplan, I thought we did a pretty good job rebounding…They made some huge shots at the end and things just didn’t go our way…We just fell short.”
Entering the offseason, the Trojans will take a week off and let the loss marinate amongst the group. Then, Drinkall and company will meet with the returning players, and shortly after the spring and summer basketball schedule begins.
The Trojans will feel a big loss when they return to the court next year. As they graduate four-year starter and standout guard Grady Hengel. Hengel was the conductor on both offense and defense. Not only a great ability to score, but arguably a better ability to facilitate, Hengel’s production will certainly be missed next season. Drinkall says that absence will go further than the court, “He’s a leader for our team on and off the court. Just an outstanding young man.” Hengel walks away from the program with over 850 points.
On the plus side, the Trojans Freshman and Junior Varsity team combined for a total of one loss in their respective seasons. Not only the record, but plenty of 8th graders and freshmen saw varsity minutes. Which should speed up the progression process-especially for Cayden Lea. As an 8th grader he earned valuable minutes early in the season, slowly becoming an integral part of the rotation.
When asked to sum up the season, Drinkall took a breath and said, “Effort. We gave the effort.”
Winona Senior High School Boys
For the Winhawk Boys, they still have work to do, and the sky is the limit.
Last night on March 7 the Winhawks began their section tournament play as they welcomed Kasson-Mantorville to WSHS. In what was an ‘awkward’ day as head coach Kyle Martin described it, the Winhawks didn’t have their normal number of fans in the gym due to it being spring break. Nonetheless, they fought through a slow start.
Similar to the first matchup with KM, the Winhawks led at the half by a mere 7 points. It was in the second half that they blew the door open. Thanks to 26 points from junior Jackson Harvey and 19 from senior Bryan Cassellius, the Winhawks rolled KM, 79-53. Martin said of Harvey’s performance that he’s a player that with one bucket, his confidence soars, and that’s what happened. Harvey drained a couple of early second-half threes that began the huge run for the Winhawks. Martin joked that although he can stroke it on occasion, Harvey needs to be down low for the boards.
Martin said that he thinks his team can learn from the second half adjustments made in the KM game. Showcasing that patience on offense leads to better shots, and in turn, more makes. Furthermore, they played much quicker in the second half. Running in transition, finding the open guy, It’s clear this team is better when the pace is higher.
Now the attention quickly turns to facing Austin in a rubber match–with the winner punching their ticket to the section title game–this Saturday in Austin, Minn. at 7 p.m.
Earlier in the season when the Winhawks were dealing with a litany of injuries, the Packers of Austin dominated on their homecourt in a 76-57 victory over Winona. Fast forward a month later and the Winhawks got revenge at Winona Senior High. The win came in dramatic fashion when Winona erased a four-point deficit in the final minute, with Cassellius draining a corner three in the final seconds to get the W.
Martin thinks the key to victory come this Saturday will be on the defensive side of the ball. He has confidence in his offense and knows that anyone on the starting five is capable of exploding in the box score on any given night. But Austin has some talent too, specifically in their guard play. Martin says that will be a big focus–slowing down their [Austin] guards.
For what it’s worth, last season the Winhawks were a three-seed, like they are again this season, reaching the section final where they lost to Austin. Safe to say there’s plenty to play for Saturday night.
I asked Kyle Martin before he went to celebrate with his team after beating KM, what he thinks the limit is with this squad,
“The week we beat Owatonna and Austin (and Northfield for that matter) it showed us we can beat anyone…I think that we can finally get the section final victory. This team has state potential.”
The Winhawk boys will face the Austin Packers Saturday, March 11, at 7 p.m. from Austin, Minn. Coverage begins shortly before 7 p.m. on Real Country 101.5 FM 1380 AM or right here on winonaradio.com.
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